Bed



N A M K C A L B S N Sept 12, 1956 D E B 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 6, 1948 FIG.

Wm Mr 5 PW m ow N ATTORN av.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4.

BED

N. S. BLACKMAN FIG. 5.

Filed NOV. 6; 1948 IN V EN TOR.

m i M s a w A N L m $2 s A .N m A0 MW R Patented Sept. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES OFFICE My invention relates to improvements in beds, and has particular relation to a hospital bed divided into longitudinal sectionswhich may be mechanically tilted and by means of which a patient may be turned from side to side.

Bed-ridden patients who are unable to move or assist themselves have presented serious problems in medical care. Such patients are constantly in danger of contracting fatal complications such as hypostatic pneumonia, blood clotting, gangrenous bed sores, or the like, caused by. immobility in one position for extended lengths of time. This danger has made it imperative'to assign a special nurse or attendant 3 is a front elevation of the bed shown in normal operative position, with a mattress in-- sertedthereon shown in phantom.

,Fig. 4 is a front elevation similar to- Fig. 3, the.

5 upper section being shown rotated in a clockwise m; direction, and a portion of the lower base frame being broken away for clarity of illustration.

Fig. -5.-is a fragmentary perspective view of the upper section of the bed,.. shown disassembled from the lower frame, with portions thereof, broken away to more clearly reveal the construc-.

to. change the position of the patient manually bed framedesignated generally by reference nu-.

at frequent periodic intervals, normally every two hours. Obviously, this manual method is time consuming, tedious, and physically diiiicult.

Another problem in the case of a bed-ridden patient lies in the necessity for rolling over the patient for daily general medical or nursing duties such as making up .the bed, bathing, ade ministering back care, and similar duties. The task of manually turninga patient requires an undue expenditure of. effort and exertion, especially in the case of a large or heavy patient.

\ It is. also necessary, inmany instances, to maintain a patient in a fixedposition on his side, as is often required post-operatively to facilitate vomiting after the administration of ether or other anesthetic gases, and also. after chest operations such as pneumothorax.

It is the principal object of my invention, therefore, to provide a hospital bed divided into a number of longitudinal sections, each of which may be tilted upwardly to allow the patient to be moved from side to side or rolled over. i a

, Another object of my invention is the provision of a hospital bed of the type described in which the sections may be tilted quickly and easily by hand-operable mechanical means, or, in the alternative, may be slowly and imperceptively tilted by automatic action of an electric motor.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of a hospital bed of the aforementioned type in which a patient may be conveniently maintained in a fixed position on his side.

These and other objects of my invention will.

, Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the bed of Fig. 1,

shown partially in section as alongline 2-2 of Fig, l. v

g5 angle irons l4, l4.

, preferably made of cast iron or other sturdy material,,and may becast integrally, or cast sepa iiir meral sllL-and an upper section I I mounted thereon, one side of which may be rotated upwardly.

whilethe other side ismaintained in a substantially, horizontal position.

The. lower bed frame is of simple constructio comprisinghorizontal, rectangular frame provided with-fixedupright legs l2. The horizontal frame ,,0nstructed from a pair of side angle irons, l3 and a pairof front and rear transverse The said angle irons are rately and secured together by welding, riveting or, similar means of attachment. A pair of upright bracket-members I5 are centrally located onthe front and rear transverse angle irons l4, l4 and are secured thereto, preferably by means .e s...

The remainder ,of the bed, comprising all of bed. ,Said bar 19 has an integral cylindrical rod 20 at either end thereof, which extends through the bracket members l5 on the front and rear 9; j transverse angle/irons l4, l4, and thus rotatably,

mounts said bar i9 upon the lower bed frame Ill.

The cylindrical rod 20 which extends through the bracket member IS on the rear transverse angledron l lf ex tends further into a gear box G" i which is mounted on the rear of the bed. The. free end of said rod 20 may be provided with a gearlswhich meshes with the gears within the gear boxB ormay be attached to the gears in. any otherconventional and suitable manner 'Ihe gear assembly, contained in the gearboxq' may be manually rotated in either direction by turning a handle H, or may be driven by a motor M. The motor and gear assembly may be of any well-known construction, and are not shown in detail, since the construction thereof forms no part of the present invention.

The operation of the gear assembly by means of handle H will cause bar 19 to rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, depending upon the preference of the operator. The motor M may be used instead of the handle H. Said motor is preferably electric and of the type which will automatically reverse its direction at pre-set intervals. The gear assembly connected to motor M is preferably of the reduction type, so that operation of motor M Will rotate bar l9 at a slow or almost imperceptible rate. It is obvious that in place of the preferred motor, a unidirectional motor may be conveniently employed, with the reversing of the direction of rotation of bar l9 being accomplished by a cam gear within the gear box. motor or handle, any other well k'nown means for imparting rotary motion may b'e-us'ed.

I-he lifting elements is are preferably two in number'and are laterally disposed adjacent the front and rear ends of the bed. Said lifting. elements I8 are shown in the drawings as being in the form of inverted. T-bars, this construction being preferred because of the stability and strength afforded. It is obvious, however, that the lifting elements l8 may be of any desired construction such as of fiat or cylindricalshape. In addition, any number of such. elements may be conveniently employed, or a single element may be used.

As shown in Figs. 1 and. 5, the lower surface of the lifting elements is are secured to the upper surface of the rotatable bar [9, adjacent the terminal edges thereof, and are disposed at right angles to said bar It. said lifting: elements l8 havea series of vertical cut-out slots 2 arranged in spaced relationship along the upper surface thereof. The slots 2 f enable the side frames I!, IT to be adjustably secured" to the lifting e1emerits IS, in a manner which will be presently described.

Rectangular sid'e frames ll, H are 'pivotally attached along their longitudinal edges to a pair of longitudinal angle irons 22, 22' whicliare L- shaped in cross section as shown in- Figs, 3 and 4.

The pivotal attachment may be accomplished by means of spaced hinges 23. The longitudinal angle irons 22, 22 are arranged to fitwithin the slots 2| of the lifting elements [8: Each said an gleiron 22, 22' is provided with a pair of" integral terminal walls 24, said walls 24 abutting the" allow the bed to be used for the various purposes previously set forth. 7 e

In normal position the sideframe's- H, H" are disposed in the horizontal attitude illustrated in Fig. 3, the inner longitudinal edges being supported upon the upper edges of the lifting elements It. In order'for' the side frames IT, IT

Instead of a to rest upon the upper edges of the lifting elements in parallel relation thereto, a recess 21 is cut in the inner vertical longitudinal wall of said side frames at a point adjacent the front and rear walls thereof, as shown in Fig. 5.

The outer ends of the side frames l1, II are supported by wheels or casters 28 which are mounted upon relatively short legs 29. The legs 29 are connected to the sidefr'ame by means of horizontal extension arms 30 (Figs. 1 and 2) which are preferably integral with said side frames [1, I? and which enable the wheels 28 to ride upon the front and rear transverse angle irons it, i i of the lower bed frame H].

In operation, when the bar I9 is rotated in a clockwise direction, the upper section I I will assume the position shown in Fig. 4. Lifting elements l8 will rotate about the longitudinal axis of cylindrical rods 20. As the left sides of said lifting elements I8 rise, the side frame If is carried upwardly therewith. The right sides of lift ing elements It, moving downwardly, carry with them the attached angle iron 22', causing hinges 23 to break upwardly. Side frame ll being left free of lifting elements l8, and being supported by wheels 28 on the front and rear bars [4, l4, tends to remain in a substantially horizontal po=- sition. Since, however, the connected angle iron 22, in describing a downwardly extending arc, pushes the side frame ll transversely toward the outer edge of the bed, said side frame ll rolls toward said outer'ed'ge on its wheels 28'. Furthermore, angle iron 22' tends to carry downwardly the inner edge of side frame ll", causing said side frame to incline slightly toward the central longitudinal axis of the bed. It is obvious thatthe aforementioned inclination of the side frame H is caused by the height of the legs 29; consequently, if it were desired to maintain the side frames in a perpetually horizontal position, the

' legs would be made shorter, or the wheels mount- The-frontand-rearwalls; of side frames I1 and As I'l are provided with a hole or recess 3!. shown in Fig. 4, the vertical wall of the. lifter ele-' ments 13' is also provided with a hole or recess 32 adjacent each end thereof. 32 come into alignment when the upper section H is in the normal horizontal position shown in Fig. 2. A plug meinber 33 is attached to the lifter elements |8 adjacent each of the holes 3-2,v by means of a chain 34 The plug 33' may be inser'ted into the aligned holes 3| and to ro:

vide stability to th bed and: prevent said bed from being accident'ly rno'ved fror'n its" normal horizontal position. The plugs may be provided at the front or rear of the bed; or at both front and'rea'r thereof.

If itis desired to'rais one of the side frames" and retain it iii this position to maintain thepatient on his side, any conventional m ans for locking the gears in the gear box G may be used In the use of the bed" of my invention, amat:

tress S (Fig. 3) may be provided. Said mat tress- S is shown b'rol'en' line as itforms no part of th present invention; The mattress' S is divided into longitudinal sections of sufficient Width to correspond to the's'ection formed by the side frames I1, I1 and the longitudinal angle" ascents;

5, iron 22, 22.. Each of the sections may bejoined, by-hinges to enable the said sections to be tilted with relation to the others. M n

In order to hold a, mattressof the type described in place upon theupper section when the bed is operated, a plurality of verticaldetent members 35 are afiixed in spaced relation along the lengths of the inner longitudinahwalls of the side frames l1, l1 and the angle irons. 22, 22. The detent members 35 are of sufficient height to abut and hold the lower edgesof the mat;- tress- In addition, if desired, .a bracket (not shown) may be placed in eachouter corner. of the side frames l1, II, to further secure said. mattress. To hold the mattress. .horizontally, springs may be provided to extend horizontally across side frames l1, l1. It can be readily seen that. when a patient is placed on the mattress in the center of the bed,

and the motor is started, the lifting elements IB will begin a slow, almost imperceptible rotationin one direction, and the patient will be slowly turned over. When the limit. is reached, the motor will automatically reverse its direction and slowly turn the patient in the other direction. Thus the position of the patient will be automatically and continually changed.

When it is desired to roll the patient over for: medical care or other reasons, the handle is rotated manually, and by a similar operation, the y patient may be quickly and easily turned.

. While a preferred embodiment of myinvention has been shown and described, it is obvious that numerous alterations, omissions and: additions may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. It should particularly be noted that the upper section of the bedmay bemade in two sectionsinstead of the three shown in the drawings, or may be made in more than three sections if desired.

I claim:

1. A 7 hospital bed comprising a fixed lower frame assembly, a movable upper-frame assembly pivotally attached thereto, said upper frame assembly comprising a central section and at least tion relative to said bed frame and away from said side frame whereby said side frame is raised from said normal position.

2. A hospital bed comprising a stationary lower frame assembly, a movable upper frame assembly, and mechanical means for moving said upper I frame assembly; said upper frame assembly comprising a longitudinally extending central portion, a pair of rectangular frames pivotally attached to each side of said portion, at least one rotatable lifting arm located beneath said central portion and said rectangular frames and so connected to said mechanical means as to receive rotary motion therefrom, each rectangular frame being normally disposed in a substantially horizontal position.

3. A hospital bed comprising a stationary lower frame assembly, a movable upper frame assembly, and mechanical means for moving said upper frame assembly; said upper frame assembly comprising a longitudinally extending central portion, a pair of rectangular frames pivotally attached to each side of said central portion, at least one transverse rotatable lifting arm located beneath said central portion and said rectangular frames and connected to said mechanical means, each rectangular. frame. being normally disposed in a substantially horizontal 1 position. and being. positioned to extend over one side of saidlifting arm. so .as to be raised when that side. of said lifting. arm rises onrotation thereof; l

4. A hospital bed comprising a stationary lower:- frameassembly, a movable upper frame assembly, and mechanical means for moving said upper frame assembly said upper frame assemblycomprising a longitudinally-extending central portion, a pair of rectangular frames. pivotally attached to each side of said central portion, a

pair of spaced transverse, rotatable lifting arms located beneath said central portion at either end thereof and connected to said mechanical means, each rectangular frame being normally disposed in a substantially horizontal position and normally abutting. one side of said liftingcarms so as to be raised when the abuttingside of said liftingarms rises on rotation thereof.

5. A hospital. bed according to claim 4, inv which the central portion comprises a pairsof spaced longitudinally extending bars, adjustably secured to said transverse lifting arms. 6. A hospital bed comprising a stationary base frame and an upper section mounted thereupon;

said upper section comprising a central portion rotatably mounted upon said base frame, a pair of rectangular side frames pivotally attached along the. longitudinal edges thereof to said central portion, and mechanical means for rotat ing said central portion, each of said side frames normally resting upon said base frame and upon said central portion, said side frames-also being positioned to. be raised by theside of said central portion which rises. on rotation thereof,- and to separate from that side of said central'portion whichlowers on rotation, remaining. in juxta-: position with .said base frame.

'7. A hospitalbed comprising a stationary base.-

frame. and a movable upper frame assembly mounted. thereupon; saidupper frame assembly comprising a longitudinally-disposed rod rotat ably mounted on said base frame, a pair of spaced transverse bars secured to said rod at right angles thereto, a rectangular, horizontallydisposed frame longitudinally and pivotally attached to each of said transverse bars, and mechanical means for rotating said rod, one end of said rectangular frames normally resting upon said transverse bars, the other end of said rectangular frames normally resting upon said base frame, each of said side frames being positioned to be lifted from said base frame by said transverse bars when said transverse bars are rotated in the direction of said side frame, and to pivot away from said bars and remain resting upon said base frame when said bars are rotated away from said side frame.

8. A hospital bed comprising a stationary lower frame assembly and a movable upper frame assembly pivotally attached thereto, said upper frame assembly being divided into a plurality of longitudinal sections, a transverse rotating member normally abutting said longitudinal sections, and mechanical means for rotating said transverse member, said longitudinal sections comprising a center section formed of a plurality of longitudinal bars and secured to said transverse rotating member, and at least one side section hinged along its longitudinal wall to one of said longitudinal bars, said side section being positioned to normally rest upon said lower frame assembly.

9. A hospital bed comprising a lower frame answersassembly', a movable upper name assembly, and mechanical means for operating said upper frame-assembly; said upper frame assembly com prising a longitudinal rod rotatable mounted at either. end-to the-front and rear of the lower frame assembly and connected to said mechanical means,- a pair of transverse arm's attack-led adjacent either end -of said longitudinal ro'd, a pair of longitudinal bars secured to said trans verse arms, and a reotangular side frame piv otally attached along one-longitudinal'w'all there-' of to each of said longitudinal bars, said side frames being normally disposed in ahorizontal 5 position, said side frames also-'havin'g'wheels on the outer corners thereof which i'rvlie'els nor r'nally rest upon the front end rear upper sun faces ofsaid lower frame assembly;

it). A hospital bed comprising a lower frameassembly and a movable upp'er' frame assembly; said upper frame assembly :comprising a rotat able longitudinal rod pivotall y mounted'at each end on. the frontand rear of the bed frame, at-

least Iona-transversearm secured at right angles to said longitudinal rod, a plurality of long n' tudinally-extending bars adjustably secured "to said-transverse arm, a side frame pivotally secured to each of said longitudinally-extending bars along the inner longitudinaledges thereof, said frames being positioned normally to rest upon the upper surface of said transverse arm, the outer corners of said side frames bearing wheels which normally rest upon the front and rear edges of the lower frame assembly, and-me chanicalmeans for rotating the longitudinal rod.

11. A hospital bed comprising a lower frameasseinbly, an upper frame assembly mounted thereupon, said upper frame assembly compris ing'a longitudinally-disposed central section, and a pair of side sections pivotally secured to said central section along their longitudinal edges by upwardly-breaking hinges, said central section being turnable along its "longitudinal axis relative to said lower frame assembly, said side sec- 8; ti'onsnormally resting upon said lower frame assembly, and means to turn said central section.

12. A hospital bed comprising a lower frame assembly, an upper frame assembly mounted thereupon, said upper frame assembly compris ing'alorig itudinally disposed central section, and

a 'pai'r of-sicle sections pivotally secured to said turned toward said side section, and to cause:

the hinges of the 'other side section to break upwardly, leaving said other side section resting upon said lower frame assembly.

13. A hospital bed comprising a base frame and an uppersection mounted thereupon; saidu'pper section comprising a central portion rotat-, ably mounted upon said base frame, a pair ofrectangular side frames pivotally attached along, their longitudinal edges to said'central portion, and means for rotating said central portion, each of said "side fr'am'es normally resting upon said base frame, said side frames being positionedto be raised by the side of said central portionwhich rises-onlrotation thereofland to pivot rela-- tive to that side'of the central portion which lowers on rotation, remaining in juxtaposition withs'aid base frame.

NORMAN S. 'BLACKMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

